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Michael Landy’s Essex idols are a reinterpretation of the Dagenham Idol, a four-thousand-year-old wooden figure that was unearthed in 1922 in Rainham Marshes, Dagenham, downstream from London on the north bank of the Thames. The figure, made of Scots pine, was found by workmen for the Ford Dagenham automotive factory, about twenty feet below the ground surface, and has been carbon dated to around 2250 BC, making it one of the earliest representations of the human form found in Europe.
Landy conceived of the Essex Idol when working towards the exhibition Michael Landy’s Welcome to Essex at Firstsite, Colchester (2021). Aiming to make an idol more befitting of contemporary Essex and its stereotypes of brash and unrefined tastes – stereotypes created and perpetuated by the British media over the last thirty years – Landy made a unique gold-leafed bronze idol, which was displayed at Firstsite as if it had been excavated from under the gallery floor. While the original idol is made of Scots pine, Landy’s Essex Idol is cast in bronze and finished with gold leaf to achieve a shinier, ‘blingier’ contemporary version.
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Michael LandyEssex Idol, 2021bronze, 24ct gold47.5 x 9 x 5 cm (18 3/4 x 3 1/2 x 2 in)unique
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The Dagenham Idol has many poor copies found in museum collections that act as display imitations of the original, which is held in the collection of Colchester Museums and on long-term loan to Vallance House. Indeed there are two copies on display in the Museum of London alone. These multiple versions of the idol, with varying levels of veracity in relation to the original, inspired Landy to further expand his play on notions of original, copy, and value by replicating his unique and precious gold-leafed Essex Idol in a series of ‘knock-offs’ in edition form and of decreasing faithfulness to the original.
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Michael LandyTabletop Idol, 2021polyester resin, 23ct gold, PETG, welsh slate57 x 20 x 17 cm (22 1/2 x 7 7/8 x 6 3/4 in)edition of 3
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Michael LandyMantelpiece Idol, 2021polished brass, slate, 23ct gold22 x 7 x 5 cm (8 5/8 x 2 3/4 x 2 in)edition of 6
The polished brass Mantelpiece Idol (edition of 6) is mounted on a slate base with ‘Essex Idol’ inscribed in 24ct gold lettering. It is a miniature replica, in the style of a high-end souvenir or a mantelpiece memento.
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Michael LandyKnock-off Idol, 2021polyester resin, cardboard, PVC, aluminium32 x 10.5 x 10.5 cm (12 5/8 x 4 1/8 x 4 1/8 in)edition of 20signed and numbered by the artist
The boxed Knock-off Idol (edition of 20) is presented as a low-end imitation, like a replica doll one might expect to find on the stalls of Romford Market or, as stereotype would have it, buy out the back of a white van from an entrepreneurial local. This is the least detailed copy and finished in the most garish gold, emulating mass-market reproduction merchandise.
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Michael Landy's Welcome to Essex
Click here for further information on Michael Landy's Welcome to Essex at Firstsite, Colchester, UK.
Watch a documentary film on Michael Landy's Welcome to Essex online.
Read a feature on the exhibition by Scott Reyburn in The New York Times.
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Michael Landy
Michael Landy was born in London, UK in 1963, where he lives and works. He attended Goldsmith’s College, London, in 1988. Landy’s multi-disciplinary practice examines consumerism, commodification, value, ownership and labour in a body of work spanning meticulous drawings, installation, and large-scale public commissions.
Selected solo and group shows include: Michael Landy's Welcome to Essex, Firstsite, Colchester, UK (2021); Scaled-Down, Thomas Dane Gallery, London, England (2018); Open for Business at the first Riga International Biennial of Contemporary Art (2018); DEMONSTRATION, The Power Plant, Toronto, Canada (2017-18); Breaking News, Sperone Westwater, New York NY (2017); Breaking News – Athens, Neon/Diplarios School, Athens, Greece (2017); Out of Order, Museum Tinguely, Basel, Switzerland (2016); Saints Alive, National Gallery, London, England (2013); Michael Landy: Four Walls, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, England (2013); Art World Portraits, National Portrait Gallery, London, England (2011); Art Bin, South London Gallery, London, England (2010). Selected public collections include: Tate Collection, London; the Arts Council England; Centre Pompidou, Paris, France; Museum of Modern Art, New York NY; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; Royal Academy, London; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis MN. Landy was elected as a Royal Academician in May 2008.
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